Pampered by the Villainous Tyrant King

Chapter 49

"It seems some of these nobles needed to be retaught a lesson of what happened when the Eldoris dowager queen tried to rebel." Annabeth murmured.

A few of the nobles had bribed Eldoris soldiers to allow the nobles' daughters near the king at night. Since Percy was bound to use his magic and often in battle, he was just as bound to experience the backlash of using such magic in great amounts. Annabeth doubted that it was in Percy's nature to be a bloodthirsty war maniac unlike some of his ancestors, so a few nobles were trying to exploit the king's lust by sneaking their daughters into his tent at night to install them as concubines.

The royal palace was about to use the stress of war as an excuse for the miscarriage of Annabeth's pretend pregnancy, but perhaps they should postpone the news. Knowing Annabeth was not pregnant would make Eldoris more unstable if others were aware that there were no proper heirs except Prince Triton should the king fall in battle. Not to mention there would be even more women being thrust to the king's bed at night. 

Annabeth trusted that Percy wouldn't betray their relationship, but she couldn't help but feel irked at these noblemen. Percy was off fighting for Eldoris while these nobles were concerned about gaining power. 

She looked out the window in the direction of the borders where Percy had taken the troops. When had she started taking their marriage seriously? And right when Annabeth had sorted out what she had felt, they were separated. What a classic story trope it seemed that some higher power was playing with their lives.

Annabeth muttered a silent prayer that they wouldn't be a pair of star-crossed lovers.

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"Louisa, take two soldiers and head towards the left. Make sure to be as quiet as possible"

"Yes, Sir Rachel."

Rachel and her troop of knights carefully scouted the woods as three members of the party slinked through the brush stealthily. The air was muggy and insects buzzed all around the knights. In order to be as quiet as possible, no one had worn metal armor, opting for slimmer, leather material.

Spies from Kiran had infiltrated Eldoris, and even into the ranks of the Eldoris army. Thankfully, most of the spies were caught before they could do too much trouble for the king had a strange knack for picking out spies. One spy had infiltrated so far as to be one of the recruits that Rachel had just handpicked to be one of her captains.

From the confessions tortured out of the spies, they were supposed to send word to their comrades about the positioning of the Eldoris army. Unfortunately, the spies themselves did not know where exactly the Kiran and Barinian armies were stationed or what their battle plans were. The flow of information went one-way apparently.

This vexed Rachel, who prided herself on being one of the best knights in Eldoris. These were her soldiers, the people she trained and taught and treated like her own comrades. For the recruit to betray her trust pained her deeply.

She had thought that after the dowager queen was overthrown, perhaps Rachel could finally get some peace. Find some time for her heart and soul to heal. Before she could even acknowledge her wounds, they had been thrown into war.

Something rustled through the dense bushes. Everyone tightened their grip on their weapons.

Rachel silently signaled for her knights to fan out in a semicircle. The rustling got louder and closer.

An animal, perhaps? Well-trained soldiers weren't this loud. They waited for the being to emerge.

"Halt!" Rachel cried out in time.